Until now, the mould sand in general use in the foundry industry are based on bentonite, which resulted from the fact that a good recognition properties and phenomena associated with this material. Come to know and normalized content of montmorillonite and carbonates and their important role in the construction of bentonite, and mass properties of the participation of compressive strength or scatter. Halloysite is widely used in industry and beyond them. However, little is known about its use in the foundry in Poland and abroad. This article presents preliminary research conducted at the Foundry Department of Silesian University of Technology on this material. Will raise the question of the representation of this two materials, which contains information connected with history and formation of materials, their structure and chemical composition. In the research, the results of compressive strength tests in wet masses of quartz matrix, where as a binder is used halloysite and bentonite in different proportions.

As part of the work, experiments were carried out on a laboratory scale to assess the effectiveness of the use of composite capsules based on halloysite and sodium alginate for the adsorption of copper from rainwater. The halloysite was subjected to acid activation prior to the encapsulation process. The characteristics of the capsules obtained were determined by means of SEM surface imaging, nitrogen adsorption by the BET method and pH PZC measurement by the suspension method. Adsorption was studied using various operational parameters such as adsorbent dose, contact time, pH and concentration of copper ions in the rainwater. A high percentage of copper ions removal was demonstrated, i.e. 72% for halloysite (H), and 83% for activated halloysite (HA) for a dose of 2.0 g/L. Adsorption of Cu (II) was consistent with pseudo-second order kinetics. The adsorbents showed a high adsorption capacity at the level of 11.03 mg/g, determined by the Langmuir isotherm model. This model fit well with the experimental data.

This article focuses on discussing the adsorption process of phenol and its chloro-derivatives on the HDTMA-modified halloysite. Optimized chemical structures of phenol, 2-, 3-, 4-chlorophenol, 2,4-dichloro-, and 2,4,6-trichlorophenol were obtained with computational calculation (the Scigress program). Charge distributions and the hypothetical structure of the system HDTMA-modified halloysite are among their key features. The above-mentioned calculations are applied in order to explain adsorption mechanism details of chlorophenols on the HDTMA-modified halloysite in aqueous solutions. The results of electron density distribution and solvent accessible surface area calculations for phenol and chlorophenols molecules illustrate the impact of chlorine substitution position in a phenol molecule, both on the mechanism and the kinetics of their adsorption in aqueous solutions. Experimental adsorption data were sufficiently represented using the Langmuir multi-center adsorption model for all adsorbates. In addition, the relations between adsorption isotherm parameters and the adsorbate properties were discussed. This study also targets at explaining the role of meta position as a chlorine substituent for mono-chloro derivatives. Given the above findings, two possible mechanisms were utilized as regards chlorophenol adsorption on the HDTMA-modified halloysite, i.e., electrostatic and partition interactions when the chlorophenols exist in a molecular form.

Halloysite is a filler which may be used to produce composites with thermoplastic polymer matrix. This work summarized the results of investigations of processing, structural, mechanical, and thermal properties of the composites with poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) matrix and raw halloysite (HA) as well as its calcined product (KHA). The effectiveness of calcination was confirmed with X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and nitrogen adsorption method. The PVC composites with HA as well as KHA were processed in the molten state in the Brabender mixer chamber. The reduction of gelation time and simultaneous increase in maximum torque with filler content were found based on the results of plastographometric analysis. SEM images of PVC/halloysite composites showed a homogeneous distribution of the filler in the polymer matrix. The introduction of halloysite leads to a slight increase in Young’s modulus and tensile strength compared to neat PVC, where the increase of both parameters is greater when KHA is used. The incorporation of 1% KHA led to an increase in impact strength, an effect which may be attributed to toughening of the polymer. A slight improvement of the Vicat softening temperature of 2.7°C for PVC/HA and heat deflection temperature of 2.4°C for PVC/KHA was also ascertained for PVC modified with 10 wt% of filler.

The article presents the results of the research related to the decomposition of polylactic acid (PLA)/halloysite nanotube (HNTs) biocomposites into a simple organic form. After manufacturing the nanocomposites, the evaluation of the composting process simulation was conducted using the biodegradation method. First, the selected properties of PLA/HNTs biocomposites, such as density, water absorption, and impact strength were tested. Next, the impact of the composting process on the behavior of PLA/HNTs composites was investigated from 30 to 90 days. Finally, the loss of mass of the composites, hardness, and the structural changes of biocomposites under the composting conditions before and after the composting were evaluated using SEM microscopy. The results showed that the PLA modified by HNT particles has biodegradation-friendly properties and therein is fully suitable for organic recycling. Due to this, in the coming years, it may contribute to the replacement of non-biodegradability polymers, i.e. polyolefins and polyesters, and reduction of plastic packaging wastes.